My name is Alexander Kelly. I started LBR Parfums in an effort to make what I love and do good while doing it. I didn’t start our company in an effort to make money; I started it to produce good-smelling scents and help to improve the world we are a part of.

I started the company when I wanted a cologne, which was far out of my budget. I went home that night and bought essential oils from various arts and crafts stores, mixing them in a recipe I found online. Without any success with the first few attempts, I almost gave up. Nothing I created was even close to being a cologne. I almost decided that it wasn’t worth it, that it was too expensive and too time-consuming. Lying in my bed, I spent the rest of the night diving down the rabbit hole of production. The further I dove, the greater my desire to return to creation became. Even with all the knowledge in the world at my fingertips, I still spent the next months stumbling around perfumery.

I chose to ignore some of the lessons from the videos, articles, and papers I consumed. “Surely there’s a cheaper way to do this?” I thought to myself as I looked at the expensive oil recommendations and alcohols. Every turn I took in my first few months of perfumery sabotaged me. Even though I saved hundreds in the start, I ended up losing thousands by the time I finally figured it out. I started to buy sets of oils off of amazon to try and save on money. What I ended up making was cross-contaminated soups of oils and alcohol. Slowly, over many, many months, I began to upgrade my materials. I stopped counting drops and switched to carefully measuring my ingredients with a scale. I ordered the highest quality perfumer’s alcohol I could find. Buying high quality glass vials and pipetts. Unfortunately, none of these mattered because I was still buying cheap raw materials. I sat down at my workstation, staring at the hundreds of dollars of oil that sat in my cart, debating the purchase. I closed my eyes and pressed order, trying not to look at the hundreds of dollars that just disappeared from my account. I spent the next week organizing and readying my equipment, stressing that I spent much more than I could justify on something worth it.

Thankfully, the oils were worth every penny. Immediately, I saw a massive improvement. Everything came together immediately. The first thing I tried was remaking my old recipes, and the change was substantial. Finally, they began to actually smell like a cologne. Right away, I took another deep dive into oil quality and how it affects perfumery. This is what inspired me to create LBR Parfums. I found that most affordable cologne companies use non-luxury or cheaper alternatives than the luxury brands. I sought to understand why and find the balance between luxury quality and feel and affordable price points. Over many more painstaking months of testing, formulating, and development, I finally achieved my goal, a company that offers luxury qualities at an affordable price, with enough of a margin to donate off the top of every purchase as well.

I dumped thousands of dollars of my own hard-earned money into the lessons I’ve learned. Every single penny was worth it. From the first dollars I spent on candles and diffuser oils at small craft stores to the bulk orders I place now, I’ve loved every second, every guess, every worry. I am fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to share my passion with the world and give back in the process.

I want to thank my mom and dad for helping to support me endlessly. I want to thank my sister for enjoying and sharing in my passion with me and telling me straight about my creations. Finally, I want to thank all my friends for being there with me from the start of my creative journey to where I am now.

Eventually, our goal is to increase our production and global influence, hopefully moving more toward a profit-free company. Our final goal is to donate over 90% of our profit to global, local, and national charities, while continuing to source our materials and labor ethically and fairly. We want to be the change we need in the world. That our customers don’t have to sacrifice price for quality or fear that their purchases might harm the world they live in.